Teach Them How to Fish (Part I)

You know the old story about teaching people to fish so they can continue to feed themselves.  That’s what the MEDRIX safe water project is about – giving the skills to construct and maintain an ultraviolet safe water unit to the people who need them.  Of course, we could truck some water out to a village, or maybe drill a well, but without a long term way for the local people to provide safe potable water for themselves, the problem is not solved.

There were three folks being trained in the construction, operation, and maintenance of the MEDRIX ultraviolet water treatment unit.  They were also being trained to assess drinking water and figure out how to treat it.  These folks are smart- they nailed their three days of training.

After the training in the metal shop, MEDRIX bought the rest of materials to use in making a unit during the training session.  Once they get back home, the trainees will buy their own from their local sources.  Everything in the unit is inexpensive and easily available.  A look at a completed unit helped them to visualize the end goal of building an entire system themselves.

 

To help achieve that goal, they worked from a complete manual written in Vietnamese and English, with lots of illustrations and photos.  The oral instruction was done in Vietnamese by a Vietnamese speaking MEDRIX staffer using the manual as a guide.  Since learning is experiential, there was lots of hands-on work at each step of the way.  We quickly found the learners knew what they were doing with tools.

The entire unit consists of the UV radiation unit made from stainless steel, two large plastic water containers, some tubing to move the water, and a stand to hold it all.  The stand is made from common PVC pipe (though some of the Vietnamese prefer a more attractive but slightly more expensive stainless steel stand) that is cut to specific lengths, then joined together with t-joints and elbows.  Next is the jigsaw puzzle of putting together according to the manual and under the watchful eye of a MEDRIX instructor.  If the new stand is acceptable, a little glue may be added to the fittings.

(To be Continued)